I had watched her speeches after the life-saving surgery she underwent in Birmingham.

Her composure, positivity, optimism and energy were astonishing.

So my choice of cinema viewing this week – The Hunger Games or He Called Me Malala – was easy.

Watching her tell her story – and listening to her hugely-influential father Ziauddin – helped me better piece the story together.

But it also proved a valuable insight into what lies behind the eloquence and power of her message.

So here’s five things we could all learn from the way Malala communicates:

1) Begin with the end in mind

Malala’s goal is simple: freedom for all children to be educated.

So listen to how she puts it:

“I speak not for myself but for those without a voice…those who have fought for their rights…their right to live in peace, their right to be treated with dignity, their right to equality of opportunity…their right to be educated.”

When we want to deliver a speech with punch, the ‘author’s message’ can most effectively be placed at the end of sentence because that’s the last thought we’re left with.

2) Keep it simple, stupid

Malala’s most famous quote is also her simplest:

“Let us remember: one book, one pen, one child and one teacher can change the world.”

Four pictures and a vision. It’s really that simple.

Yet most speaking on the subject would crowd their sentences with abstract educational terms.

Pictures beat jargon any day.

3) Speak positively in the face of negativity

Even in her description of the Taliban, who’ve said they’ll kill Malala if she ever returns to Pakistan, there is an absence of malice or hatred in what she says.

She simply spoke clearly about the right of children to be educated.

When invited to deride and attack the men who want her dead, she scorned the opportunity.

Instead she spoke about the value of going to school.

In the end, what she says is so reasonable it’s hard to disagree.

4) Maintain your enthusiasm

Malala’s parents feared their daughter’s personality would have been lost or transformed by the head wound.

Given that, it was remarkable to hear the energy, clarity and enthusiasm she put into her interviews and speeches.